Cross-country pastoral care

During the Fall semester, Zbinden Professor Bobbi Kay Jones’s work commute was just shy of 4000 miles. 

When First Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, decided to honor their retiring pastor by endowing The Louis B. and Katherine S. Zbinden Distinguished Chair in Pastoral Ministry and Leadership at Austin Seminary, they were actually making three gifts. The first two were for Austin Seminary and Louis and Kip Zbinden, whose names will forever be associated with the faculty position dedicated to passing down wisdom on the practical aspects of church life. The third gift was to generations of Austin Seminary students and the congregations they serve for providing tools they will rely on again and again to anticipate and manage the realities of ministry. For more than two decades the seasoned pastors who have held the Zbinden Chair have walked alongside students, sharing their personal experiences in ministry—teaching students about running a Session meeting, creating and managing a budget, navigating personnel (and personal) conflicts, and providing pastoral care to their communities.  

While continuing to teach an MDiv class this fall, the Reverend Bobbi Kaye Jones (MDiv’80), the fourth holder of the Zbinden Chair, took her mentorship on the road. According to Jones, a crucial aspect of the Zbinden Professorship is “to provide guidance and hope to the next generation of church leaders.” Recognizing that students educated and starting ministry positions during the COVID pandemic experienced deeply disrupted patterns of learning and serving, she submitted an unusual proposal to Dean Margaret Aymer. 

“Basically I planned a cross-country trip to visit with some of our graduates who experienced classwork and beginning their ministries during lock down. I hoped to identify and discern who might be interested in a visit and then spend time visiting folks where they are … Along with all my colleagues, I care deeply about the post-seminary experiences of our alumni. There are graduates from 2020 who have already moved from their first call due to the challenges they faced. My visit was, in a real way, delivering pastoral care from Austin Seminary. With forty years leading congregations and judicatories, I identify keenly with their lived realities in congregations and organizations,” she said. 

She added, “My intent was to gather information and feedback we can use to evaluate what and how we are teaching and, as Dr. Eileen Campbell Reed recommends in her #PandemicPastoring Report, how we train people ‘for this new era of ministry and not for the one that is passing away.’” 

Across fifteen states from east to west, Jones and her husband (and frequent co-pastor), Rev. David Gilliam, visited students currently serving as heads of staff, associates, chaplains, and full-time camp staff. “With many of our graduates already in a second call, the impact of Covid on congregations and communities was evident. In addition to all the normal joys and challenges of church life, I found them facing this season of ‘who are we now’ in a cultural context that supplies plenty of anxiety into the mix.” 

Just as the trip began, a viral blogpost was making the rounds of Presbyterians, and beyond, citing a recent Barna Group poll which tallied the following clergy-reported difficulties: 

• The immense stress of the job: 56% 

• Feeling lonely and isolated: 43% 

• Current political divisions: 38% 

• Unhappy with the effect this role has had on pastor’s family: 29% 

• Loss of optimism about the future of the church: 29%” 

“Across the board our graduates could identify #1-4, but not with #5. They can discuss issues at their church and in the denomination without the “loss of optimism.” Most of them face particular challenges, and David and I consulted on some issue at literally every stop. It was extremely satisfying to bring a combined eighty years of ministry experience to listen deeply, to ask questions, and to process possibilities together. It was a dream trip, really, and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. 

“They love their people," she continued. "They love (most) of their work. They took to heart their theological education and formation at Austin Seminary. They are discerning and reaffirming their call as they discover particular passions and surprising capacity for the hard and holy work of ministry."